Octavian talks winning the BBC Sound Of 2019, his debut album and whether he’d duet with Drake

Octavian has been announced as the winner of BBC Music’s Sound Of poll for 2019.

The South London star secured the prestigious accolade after impressing a panel of 136 influential music industry insiders that included Radio 1 DJs, industry experts and artists, including last year’s winner Sigrid.

The genre-fusing rapper is known for flitting between musical styles that include house, hip-hop, dance, trap and grime. He’s even received the backing of Drake after releasing a video that saw him dancing to Octavian’s ‘Party Here.’

Octavian’s victory comes after he released his first full length mixtape ‘Spaceman’ in 2018.

“It’s crazy, my phone’s blown up”, he tells NME on the same day that his victory is announced.

“It was bare surprising, I felt undeserving but it was great, man.”

The accolade sees Octavian joining previous winners including Sam Smith and Adele – and he’s keen to follow in their footsteps.

“It’s gonna be a very good year – to have my music out there and know that people understand my craft is very special. It’s gonna be great”, he explains.

And while a release debut for his debut album is yet to be announced, Octavian says that fans can expect it “very soon.”

As for his plans in the future, could a collaboration with Drake be on the cards after he was filmed dancing to Octavian’s ‘Party Here’?

“Yeah, maybe man! That was a very big deal.He’s a very inspirational person to me, so to have him playing my songs is just crazy.

Describing Octavian’s victory, Annie Mac said: “BBC Sound Of is always a wonderful opportunity to get a snapshot of the new music landscape in the UK and this year is really interesting. 6 of the 10 artists are women. And we have two rappers in the top five!

“I am delighted that UK rap music has got such great placement in the list – Octavian is a truly original and exciting artist, pushing the boundaries of the genre and it’s great to see such a progressive artist getting such a huge accolade.”